metulji - jan peteh

JAN POV - 'Fucking vampire'

My head hurt from the moment I lifted it up from the pillow, craving some release from the pain. Collecting myself, I tried to work out why I was in a random apartment that I knew wasn't my own, and why it was completely silent.

'ARE YOU??' Bojan shouted from the distance, followed by Nace's laugh and Kris' long sigh.

Okay, maybe not so silent.

I didn't want to miss out on whatever conversation was going on out there, so I brought myself to the end of the bed and tried not to vomit as I swung backwards to pick up some momentum. It resulted in a failed attempt to hurl myself off the bed. Fuck. The room literally moved by itself.

It's fine, I've had hangovers before, I thought, picking myself up and hobbling down the corridor like an old woman. The light intensity just continued increasing as I made my way along it, and the open curtains in the living room let in so much sun that it caused me to literally recoil when I entered.

'There's the fucking vampire!' shouted Bojan, standing up and clapping me on the back. The noise did not help. In fact, nothing helped. I tried to turn back around to go back to bed and sleep off whatever this sick feeling was, but I didn't want to do that to the others - it wasn't their fault Bojan was a dick - so I just stood there and let him be insanely annoying.

'Why so sad?' teased Kris.

To be fair, he had a point. I had woken up very angry at the world, and I knew that was from more than just the hangover. I couldn't place it though.

'Did you not score last night?' he continued, clearly trying to wind me up, but I just got more annoyed. I shook Bojan's hand from my shoulder and threw myself onto the sofa.

'Don't worry, none of us did, either. At least we didn't not score AND come back at 3AM, though.' Jure contributed, laughing and elbowing Kris in the ribs. Nace just sort of sat there, dead silent. I wondered what he knew that I didn't. Looking around, none of the group seemed to be hiding anything; nobody looked ready to drop news about what they did last night. Nace wasn't the type to go, get drunk, and hook up with a random girl, so I knew he wasn't keeping his own secret. I couldn't say the same for the rest of them, though.

'At least tell us why you weren't home until so late.' requested Bojan. My silence probably made me look like I was refusing to answer, however I was seriously struggling to remember anything that went on last night. I smoked with the others, then we went into a bar, but the rest was gone.

'Jesus, you really have got a hangover.' said Jure, lifting his eyebrows in surprise. I didn't know why he was so shocked - it wasn't like we didn't do this all the time back home. Maybe I'd gone a bit overboard last night, but I needed to let off some steam, and the drinks were cheap and strong.

'JAN'S GOT A HANGOVER!!' screeched Bojan, provoking me to pick up the nearest cushion and whack him on the head with it. He didn't care, just carried on laughing at me. Nace stood up and walked over to the sink, bringing me a glass of water. I patted him on the shoulder and mouthed 'thanks', before taking a sip that really hurt my throat. At least one of them wasn't being a dickhead this morning.

'So.. what happened to piña colada girl?' queried Kris, messing with his hair and looking directly at me. Jure and Bojan joined him, the trio giving me intense stares, while Nace sat gazing off into the distance. I didn't know what was up with him today.

'Piña colada girl?' I asked.

'The one who barged straight into you?' he continued, gesturing with his hand that it was time for me to talk. Something small came back to me, the moment we collided and she spilled her drink all over herself. She didn't look in too great of a state, obviously drunk, so I'd taken her to the bathroom to help her clean herself up. I tried looking for more, something to point out why Kris talked about the interaction so highly, but the memory ended when I left her to walk back to our table.

'Nothing?' I said, wondering why he would ask about something so small in such a big night.

'Dude, you didn't shut up about it for at least half an hour.' Bojan declared.

I couldn't remember that part either.

Glancing around the room, the others awaited my response, but there was nothing left to say - nothing actually happened with her after that moment. Obviously that was a shame, but I wasn't about to make shit up so they had something to tease me about.

Still, Nace sat tensely.

I tried to make eye contact with him, but he avoided it, up to the point I was practically staring directly into his face. Our eyes locked. It looked like he was finally about to speak.

'I saw them together.' he announced quickly and nervously, like the words were just bursting out of him. 'When I left, he was sat at the bar with her.'

'Yeah, and then she left him like all the others.' Jure laughed, but Kris slapped him on the arm, a sign that he needed to shut up. I was grateful for it.

It all came back to me then, the way we talked for hours and how I'd been too nervous to ask for her number. I'd sorted out her ride home and made sure she got to it safely. I definitely smiled at the memory, because Bojan suddenly looked thrilled, exchanging looks with the rest of the boys.

Completely interrupting my thoughts, my phone chimed, and he picked it up, looking down in shock when it was a text message rather than some random app notification.

'Nace, did you get her name?'

'No.' he replied, but I could just tell he knew more. When he made eye contact with Bojan, they let a word slip. Both at the same time.

'Lilia.' they both said.

All eyes on me again.

Fuck, I had some explaining to do.